Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in the Department of Planning and Administration in the University of Zululand, 1990. / This study looks into the problem of failure in Matric in Black schools in KwaZulu. Some researchers have focused on causes for academic failure before. Some of these researchers are: Souper, (1976); Bryant, (1978); Havinghurst, (1979); Donald, (1980); Simons, (1980). Failure is rarely, if ever, attributable to one simple cause. There are likely to be a multiplicity of interrelated causes. Some' of these causes are : family disorganisation; family size and education; poor study facilities at home and teacher-pupil ratio. Failure at school may imply that one may fail in life. Society believes that school subjects are the means of i equipping pupils with the knowledge of understanding certain socio-economic and political demands. School subjects, it is believed, reveal the r, ealities that they should know in their society. It is through these school subjects that the child will know how to live comfortable with other people (Social Studies); how to look after his/her body, (Physiology and Hygiene); how other organisms are important in her/his life, (Biology/ Ecology; (Geography) .